Yuko, When Are You Going to Create Star Breathing?

"Whoa? You're all still alive?" The demon slowly approached. "And without a scratch, too."

"Once I eat you, I'll definitely become stronger."

"Careful not to crack your teeth." Yuko spat out a mouthful of blood and tightened her grip on her katana.

Kokushibo held back the blood rising in his throat and leaned on his blade as he tried to stand.

The demon licked his lips. "I've decided. I'll start by eating your legs and let you experience firsthand what it feels like to be eaten."

Yuko felt a little disgusted and said scornfully, "A leg fetish? You're a pervert, aren't you?"

Yuko worked hard to steady her emotions and ease the fear in her heart.

She had thought that, as a transmigrator, she wouldn't be afraid of a creature she had seen countless times in anime. But when that ugly, humanoid form truly appeared before her eyes, Yuko felt discomfort and fear welling up from the depths of her heart.

The veins on the demon's forehead bulged. He hadn't quite understood her, but he was furious anyway.

When the demon lunged at them at inhuman speed, only one thought remained in Yuko's mind.

Fuck!

If she had known this would happen, she would have done anything to switch places in midair and let Kokushibo take the front.

Suddenly, a wisp of cool wind seemed to blow past, scattering the dark clouds and stirring a strand of Yuko's hair.

Beneath the full moon, a crimson figure descended from the sky.

Holding a blade that shone brilliantly beneath the full moon, he appeared like a god as he entered their field of vision.

The demon's head had already vanished without a trace, while the body fallen before them rapidly dissolved.

No one had seen his movements clearly.

After more than ten years, Tsugikuni Yoriichi had appeared before them once again.

Yuko let out a long breath and happily waved at him. "Yoriichi~ Long time no see."

Though they had not met for ten years, the three of them looked almost identical.

This was especially true of the twins, Kokushibo and Yoriichi. Aside from the marks on their faces, there was no way to tell them apart.

Kokushibo's face, with a little more gentleness and calm, became Yoriichi's face.

Yoriichi's face, with a little more charm and softness, became Yuko's face.

The three of them differed noticeably only in height.

At just 1.7 meters tall, Yuko was nearly twenty centimeters shorter than her two older brothers, while Kokushibo stood a full 1.9 meters tall.

Even Yuko was quite tall for this era, let alone the Tsugikuni brothers. Whenever they stood among a crowd, they looked like little giants.

Yoriichi smiled faintly at her before kneeling before his elder brother, Kokushibo.

"I'm sorry, Elder Brother. I'm late."

Yoriichi felt apologetic for failing to save his elder brother's subordinates.

Kokushibo merely leaned against the tree trunk and gazed at his younger brother in silence. The flame of jealousy he had nearly forgotten, buried deep within his heart, began to blaze anew in his eyes.

After all these years, the gap between them had grown even wider.

While he had been gloating over becoming a samurai, Yoriichi had already become capable of easily severing a demon's head.

Through Yoriichi, they learned that demons existed in this world.

Both of them had suffered injuries of varying severity.

After simply bandaging them, Yoriichi took them to the Demon Slayer Corps' residence for treatment.

Throughout the process, Kokushibo barely spoke. Only Yuko chatted with Yoriichi from time to time.

Yuko sighed. "Compared with before, your communication skills have improved a lot."

Yoriichi smiled gently. "You haven't changed at all, Yuko. You're still as lively as ever."

Yuko patted him on the shoulder. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Yoriichi brought the two of them to the Demon Slayer Corps and arranged for their care. At this point in time, the Demon Slayer Corps was not yet as secretive as it would become in later generations.

Lying on the sickbed, Yuko began letting her imagination run wild.

If nothing unexpected happened, the plot should have fallen back into place.

She had not watched much of Demon Slayer. She had only finished the first season, along with occasionally seeing some of the more popular scenes online.

In reality, her understanding of Demon Slayer's overall plot was fragmented and incomplete, not enough to piece together.

She was at the level where, if she joined a Demon Slayer group chat, people would question her and kick her out after no more than three to five sentences.

But if nothing unexpected happened, Kokushibo would soon join the Demon Slayer Corps and have no time to concern himself with family matters. She could take the opportunity to join the Demon Slayer Corps as well.

Then she would learn the Sun Moon Breathing from her two big brothers, reach the peak of life, and become Muzan's new daddy.

Just thinking about it made her a little excited.

As for what would happen to the Tsugikuni family after losing its head...

Yuko could only say that she had enough trouble staying alive and had no time to worry about it.

Ever since Akino's death and Yoriichi's departure, that family had brought her little warmth.

Just as expected, after recovering from his injuries, Kokushibo told Yoriichi that he wanted to join the Demon Slayer Corps.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yuko raised her hand and voiced her support. "I want to join the Demon Slayer Corps too."

Kokushibo cast her a cool glance, making Yuko shift uneasily in her seat.

If Kokushibo disagreed, wouldn't Yoriichi, as his younger brother, have to listen to him?

Fortunately, he eventually looked away and said nothing more.

Yuko breathed a sigh of relief. At last, she wouldn't have to get married.

Yoriichi did not understand the situation at home and took it only as support from his brother and sister.

He thus became their recommender for joining the Demon Slayer Corps.

From that point onward, the sixteen-year life Yuko had experienced since transmigrating finally began to follow the proper course.

It was only after joining the Demon Slayer Corps that Kokushibo learned from others how powerful his younger brother was.

Before Yoriichi arrived, the swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps had wielded Nichirin Blades and relied entirely on their own sword skills to fight demons. Their death rate had been terrifyingly high.

After Yoriichi arrived, he not only created the Origin Breathing Style—Sun Breathing.

Because others could not master it, he also used it as a foundation to teach everyone to create Breathing Styles suited to themselves: the five great Breathing Styles of Stone, Thunder, Wind, Water, and Flame.

This increased the efficiency of demon slaying and greatly reduced the Demon Slayer Corps' casualty rate.

It could be said that Yoriichi's arrival had illuminated the road ahead for the Demon Slayer Corps.

Yoriichi never held back when teaching Breathing Techniques.

As his elder brother and younger sister, the two of them received his personal guidance.

The two of them stood in an open space with practice katana in hand, their eyes tightly shut.

"Hiss~"

Orange-red breath escaped from the corner of Kokushibo's mouth.

Suddenly, his calm expression stiffened. The heat in his lungs became unbearable, and he broke into a fit of coughing.

He could not use Sun Breathing.

On the other side, Yuko endured the burning sensation in her lungs and forcibly circulated Sun Breathing.

Just as Yoriichi noticed the condition of her lungs and was about to stop her, Yuko suddenly opened her eyes.

"I learned it!"

Kokushibo, who had just been crushed by disappointment, now felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss. He hurriedly turned his head to look.

"..."

Blood was spilling from Yuko's mouth and nose.

When she saw both brothers looking over, Yuko mischievously winked at them. She was just about to demonstrate Sun Breathing: First Form: Circular Dance, when Yuko, who had mistakenly thought enduring the burning sensation meant she had succeeded, suddenly blacked out.

In the literal sense, both her eyes went black.

After a while, Yuko, having been resuscitated, sighed. "I thought I had learned it."

Kokushibo: "..."

Yoriichi maintained his calm smile. "It's all right. Finding the Breathing Style that suits you best is what matters most."

"Sun Breathing isn't necessarily more powerful than the other Breathing Styles."

Yuko smiled on the surface while silently complaining inwardly.

You can't fool me!

She had seen the plot. When Tanjiro used the Dance of the Fire God, he had nearly killed an Lower Rank!

The days of studying Breathing Techniques passed one after another.

Kokushibo did not possess the talent to use Sun Breathing, but he was not lacking in aptitude.

Relying on Sun Breathing, he soon created a Breathing Style of his own, which later generations would likewise call an Origin Breathing Style—Moon Breathing.

"Um... Elder Brother, could you teach me?" Yuko forced out a smile, her voice sweet as she steeled herself to ask him for instruction.

The corner of Kokushibo's mouth lifted slightly. "Why are you addressing me properly all of a sudden?"

Yuko's face filled with black lines, and her sweet voice instantly bounced back. "Fine, don't teach me!"

She would create Star Breathing herself!

Ever since Kokushibo created Moon Breathing, it was not only Yuko who joked about creating Star Breathing. Even the spectators in the Demon Slayer Corps had begun calling out to her.

"Yuko, when are you going to create Star Breathing?"

Yuko always replied the same way.

"Today!"

However, her understanding of Breathing Techniques was nowhere near sufficient. Just following along with her studies exhausted her brain, let alone creating one herself.

Otherwise, she would not have shamelessly gone to Kokushibo to learn Moon Breathing.